Insult added to injuries for wounded soldiers

Friday

Nov 30, 2007 at 8:57 AM

D. Allan Kerr

So basically the government of George W. Bush shows its support for our troops by sending them off to a war we didn’t have to start and then demanding they return their paycheck when they get so shot up they can’t complete their tour of duty.

Only in Bush’s America, right?

See, American soldiers can get bonuses of up to $10,000 for enlisting in the armed services. It’s a great financial opportunity for those not fortunate enough to be born children of privilege. Basically a carrot stick dangled to entice young people to leave behind the lives they’ve known to help wage an unpopular war. And if they don’t come home physically or psychologically maimed, it can pay off.

But it seems the Bush Pentagon decided to — quite literally — add insult to injury. When some wounded soldiers returned home to try to recuperate from their wounds, they received a bill from the Defense Department demanding repayment of their enlistment bonus for the time they were unable to serve. I’m guessing it was something along the lines of, “We regret that the loss of your legs in combat has prevented you from completing your tour of duty, but since you cannot finish the three years you signed up for, kindly return $3,700 of the bonus you were paid to serve that time.”

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer announced this outrageous practice over the weekend, citing the case of an Army sniper from Pennsylvania who was partially blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The veteran received a letter from the Pentagon demanding repayment of $2,800 from a $10,000 bonus he received for signing up.

When the veteran called attention to this shameful treatment, the Pentagon retreated and called the incident a “clerical error.” But meanwhile Skip Dreps, director of the Northwest Paralyzed Veterans of America, said he knows of a dozen soldiers from Washington state who received similar letters. Some vets have received additional letters warning that they will have to pay interest if they don’t return their bonuses soon.

“A bill in the mail is not the kind of present our soldiers deserve in this holiday season,” Schumer stated at a recent press conference. “Our veterans are not being treated with the dignity, respect and thanks that they deserve.”

Well of course not. Veterans are propaganda vehicles to be trotted out for political gain and staged pep rallies – we’re not supposed to give a shit after the parade’s over, are we? Bush is all about the troops when he’s trying to shore up support for his woefully mismanaged war in Iraq, but he’s demonstrated time and again (Walter Reed Hospital scandal, absurdly inadequate death benefits, refusal to establish an exit strategy from Iraq, etc.) that his commitment is entirely self-serving.

At least America isn’t alone in the practice of humiliating its defenders. In England recently, soldiers who suffered horrendous wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan were taunted while undergoing rehabilitation in a public swimming pool.

Some of the Brits had suffered from severe burns or amputation. Members of the public were reportedly upset that a section of the pool had been roped off for the veterans’ session. One woman in particular said the vets didn’t deserve to be there because they hadn’t “paid.” Others commented that the soldiers were frightening children with their appearance.

Eventually the therapist abbreviated the session and the veterans had to leave.

And yet it’s the “bleeding heart liberals” who are dishonoring the troops by trying to bring them home safely? What rational human being is going to buy that stupidity?

It’s time for the chickenhawks to stop trying to label their opponents as unpatriotic for opposing the war in Iraq and start supporting the soldiers who are fighting that war. These kids went there on good faith, assuming their government would at least have their back if they answered their country’s call. Disillusioning our warriors would be the latest in a long series of tragic miscues stemming from this idiotic exercise.

D. Allan Kerr thinks TV viewers are idiots for not recognizing that Scary Spice was the best performer on “Dancing With the Stars.” Kerr may be reached at the_culling@hotmail.com.

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